YES, THE EARTH MOVED !

Yesterday saw what is being called the “greatest defeat “(or victory, if you favour that side!) in Queensland politics since…I don’t know. A long time.

But I promise this is NOT turning into a political blog! For one thing, I am easily bored by political debate. Besides, I don’t follow these particular gee-gees with much interest so can’t name them, their trainers, track records, betting odds…

But I did grab a pencil and make a very quick scrawl when I heard the new Member for the seat previously held by the Treasurer. One of the things she “absolutely wants to address” is public transport.

And this rang a silly bell as her new boss, incoming Premier Campbell Newman, was once Mayor of Brisbane and one of the things he spent public money on was a free public bicycle scheme. Laudable? Perhaps. But no one rode his bikes!

I don’t think John Kudelka has anything to worry about! If you click the image you should be able to read it.

Of more interest to me is some other earth-shaking news.* The other day, ‘way out west of Oodnadatta, a ‘quake was recorded at almost magnitude 7. That’s quite a shake! Of course, out there there are no high-rise apartments and crowded cities. And, fortunately, no nuclear reactors or “waste facilities.” There are small settlements and these would feel after-shocks. You can read more here. I suppose my interest in this stuff comes from having been knocked on my butt by ‘quakes as a little kid. Today? I could probably hold my balance in all but a big shake! 🙂

I could make this a meteorological post. But I wont. I still have some mopping-up to do!

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A New Zealander, currently living in tropical Queensland,Australia (with 2 cats and one Main Man).Old enough to remember George VI, white tennis balls and life-before-television.You want more? Read the blog!

Oh, yes! We don’t do things by halves here!
And I always feel that F and S humour makes all idiocy palatable. 🙂
(By the way, I deleted your duplicate comment.It was re-directing to a “blank” address. )

Ah yes, you come from a place as seismically active as California. We had a 7.2 in our county in ’92 that demolished the house of a friend living closer to the epicenter and was, um, quite an interesting experience. One that I would not recommend. Earthquakes and politics….does sound rather apocalyptic.

Getting excited about April, eh? There’s a university town near Sacramento (Davis) that uses old Routemasters around town that they imported from London. Rather sad to see them there and not back home, I think.

Thanks for the link–great sketches, and indeed very much Davis. I’ve had longtime connections to Davis and the campus. I love to visit, but not during the sizzling summer of California’s interior valley, where a cool day means only a bit over 40C. (Yeah…probably balmy by your standards!)

we had a ‘bike share’ program – free “yellow” bikes were left all over the city. most were ‘shared’ and then quickly repainted. the next approach? bike sharing with a small fee – credit card, or pre-paid card, required to unlock the bikes. (sigh) in theory, it should work. in practice? people are people are people……

The silliest story is that Clive(Fat Wallet) Palmer now says he just “started the story about the CIA in order to get more people to vote for Newman.”
Yes, truly. Silly bugger!

This is from the newspaper The Australian:
MINING magnate Clive Palmer said he does not regret saying the Greens were conspiring with the CIA against Australia’s resources industry, because his comments served their purpose.

Mr Palmer told reporters in Brisbane today the claims he made last week provided enough distraction from the Queensland election campaign for negative aspects of the Liberal National Party (LNP) to be overlooked.

He said the fact the claims were taken up by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Deputy Prime Minister Wayne Swan, and covered extensively in the media, helped the LNP’s campaign in Queensland.

“It took a great lot of attention off some of the negative aspects of the election. That was a very good thing,” Mr Palmer said.

“It’s wonderful that all of you could play a small role in having Campbell Newman elected as premier of Queensland, so well done, you all deserve a round of applause.”

I love it that you said you get bored by politics. I need to do that. I get all wound up and really I need to knock it off and go outside and pick up litter or invite the neighbors over for tea and biscuits so we can watch the birds in our garden. Having said that, I love politicians who address environmental issues and make alternate transport available to citizens.